Electoral Commission approves regulation on covering elections

The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) approved the Regulation on covering the electoral campaign by media, on February 2, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The regulation is not much different from the one in force during the 2005 elections. It does not refer to broadcasters only, but to the written media, too. It regulates the debate programs, the air time for paid electoral ads, it bans to insert electoral advertising or comments in news bulletins,” said Iurie Ciocan, the CEC's secretary. Under the regulation, the running public servants will not give interviews and will not use air time to campaign. But they will be allowed to appear in video images. This provision triggered discussions among the CEC's 9 members. Nicolae Garbu it could be used by top dignitaries. “They cut ribbons, put in commission roads, during campaigns,” Garbu said, saying those events could be reported by press services, and not by the dignitaries involved in the campaign. Garbu's proposal not to allow top dignitaries to appear in images during the campaign was rejected. Secretary Iurie Ciocan said “people also need to know about events outside the campaign.” The regulation provides that the ads will have a duration of at least 20 seconds, compared to 30 seconds in 2005. The broadcasters can offer not less than 90 minutes for debate programs per day for one or several programs. The regulation reads that “each material of electoral competitors published in the written press will be placed under the 'Electorala 2009' logo, specially created for the purpose. The material will have a note: “paid from the electoral fund” of the respective contestant. The payment should transferred beforehand. No news or reports about the candidates' and their relatives' charities can be aired during the campaign. News agencies and portals are viewed as print media. Now 28 parties are registered by the Justice Ministry and can plunge into the race. It will start as soon as the parties lodge their documents with the CEC. It will be possible most probably starting from Thursday, February 5, 24 hours after CEC announces the venue and time to take the documents. The parliamentary poll will be on April 5.